East Anglian 3
East Anglian 3
East Anglian 3
My column for the East Anglian Daily Times, 18 April 2012:
Thinking globally
Anyone who's a manager will know that there are perks and disadvantages to being the boss.
One perk may be having an office of your own. But a disadvantage can be the queue of people knocking at the door ‘ just wanting to have a word about something'. Too often that can feel like a charter to complain.
Mrs Thatcher once said to her cabinet colleagues: 'Don't bring me problems - bring me solutions'. It was a worthy aim but I wonder if it was a little idealistic. If you're the boss then people will feel expect you to hear their gripes.
Bu how refreshing when someone does come along with a proposal that is unpredictable and novel.
A few years ago someone I hadn't heard of booked an appointment to see me. His name was Alan Bell from an organisation called the Youth Sport Trust and I assumed that he was coming to school to try to sell me something.
In fact his opening words were: 'We want you to go to Shanghai'.
It was the beginning of the most extraordinary international project which has recently led to ours being the first school in the UK to take students to Iraq. This was a breathtaking opportunity made possible by the British Council, Youth Sport Trust and European Union. We felt privileged to take part in something so historic.
I used to be rather sceptical about ventures like this. Shouldn't schools be concentrating on teaching the basics of reading, writing and Maths rather than flying students off to foreign parts? Wasn't it just a headteacher's jolly?
Now I think it's one of the most important things that a school can do - alongside, not instead of - teaching the basics.
I believe we owe it to our students to prepare them for a fast-changing and truly global society, to train them to compete with and work alongside young people from different backgrounds.
Most importantly, in this mostly white, mostly monocultural, and often insular part of the UK, we need to show our youngsters that there's a big and exciting world out there and they should feel hungry to be part of it.
If education means anything, it means preparing the next generation to take their rightful place in this brave new world.
Iraq Memories
There are five images I will never forget from my visit to Iraq:
1.Our six students teaching a group of girls from Baghdad how to play cricket. The girls were brilliant – feisty and confident, and very eager to learn
2.Students from Kurdistan and greater Iraq working together joyfully and with mutual trust to create an extraordinary sports festival for younger pupils
3.A chilling visit to the Saddam torture museum in Sulaimanyia
4.Visiting our two partner schools and proudly presenting Ipswich Town FC kit to their outstanding young leaders. They loved it.
5.Being dressed in full Kurdish outfit and dancing on the mountainside as part of the ‘Newroz’ spring festival. I’m only wish my students hadn’t taken such glee in filming my antics: I know that I’ll never escape it
Google versus teachers
A good friend of mine, Ian Gilbert, has written a book with surely the best title of any educational handbook ever: Why Do I Need a Teacher When I Have Google?
It's not a bad question. When I was at school, we expected most lessons to be dull and for the experience of school to be impersonal and uninspiring. Against those low expectations, the great teachers really stood out. But we needed the boring ones too because the only other source of knowledge was the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Now our students have access to information that may be far more up-to-date than their teachers' current knowledge, so will real live teachers become a thing of the past? Will future schooling, as some experts predict, all take place online?
My experience says no. There's still something hugely motivating and inspiring about being in the presence of a great educator. The Internet is awash with information - some reliable and useful, some dodgy and potentially dangerous.
Great teachers help young people to navigate from what’s worthless to what’s valuable. We need them more than ever.
Friday, 20 April 2012